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What is Tense?
A Tense is a form taken by a verb to indicate the time of action. The tenses simply show the time
of an action or state of being as shown by a verb. Understanding the period of an action; did the
action take place in the past, is it happening now, or do we expect it to happen in the future.
Tense is used to show the relation between the action or state described by the verb and the time,
which is reflected in the form of the verb. In short, Tense is a form of a verb which indicates
time, and occasionally the continuation or completeness, of an action.
Types of Tenses:
There are mainly three types of Tenses, they are:-
1. The Present Tense:
The verb that refers to the present time is said to be in the present tense; as
I write this letter to help you.
2. The Past Tense:
The verb that refers to the past time is in the Past Tense.; as
I wrote this letter yesterday.
3. The Future Tense:
The verb that refers to the future time is in the Future Tense.; as
I shall write another letter tomorrow.
Note:
Sometimes a past tense may refer to present time and a present tense may express future time; as
I wish I knew the answer. (I’m sorry I don’t know the answer.) Past Tense – Present time.
Let’s wait till he comes home. Present tense- future time
Each of these tenses are further subdivided into four types like
1. The Present Tense:
(a) Simple Present Tense
(b) Present Continuous Tense
(c) Present Perfect Tense
(d) Present Perfect Continuous Tense
2. The Past Tense:
(a) Simple Past Tense
(b) Past Continuous Tense
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(c) Past Perfect Tense

(d) Past Perfect Continuous Tense
3. The Future Tense:
(a) Simple Future Tense
(b) Future Continuous Tense
(c) Future Perfect Tense
(d) Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Present Tense:
Simple Present Tense is used:-
1. To express a habitual action as
I get up at 5 AM every day.
He takes exercise every morning.
2. To express a universal truth or fact e.g.
Honey is sweet.
Man is mortal.
Milk is white.
Water boils at 100 degree Celsius.
3. To express an action taking place in the immediate present.
Here comes the bus.
There she goes.
4. To express a future fixed action.
The train starts at 5 pm.
We go to the bank next week.
5. In time clauses, when it is introduced by conjunction of time such as when, while, until, till,
after, as soon as, no sooner, then etc.
I shall wait till you come.
When you reach home I shall meet you.
6. In Conditional Clauses
If it rains we shall get wet.
Unless he studies, he will not pass.
We will wait, until she comes back.
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7. To introduce a quotation
Shakespeare says “honesty is the best policy”
8. In exclamatory sentences beginning with here, there.
Here comes Selam!
Present Continuous Tense is used:
1. For an action going on at the time of speaking.
The boys are playing football.
2. For a temporary solution which may not actually be happening at the time of speaking.
I am reading ‘Things fall apart’. (Not reading at the movement).
He is teaching English in Addis University, (may not be teaching at the moment of speaking)
3. For an action planned in the near future.
I am going to the circus tonight.
She is being married next week.
4. For a repeated or habitual action used with an adverb like always, continually, constantly, very etc.
He is always helping the weak.
He is always coming late to office.
Present Perfect Tense is used:
1. To express an action that has just been completed; as
He has just returned from office.
The Sun has set.
2. To express past action whose time is not defined.
Have you read this book?
Mr. Ram has been to USA.
3. To express a past action whose effect of which still continues
I have cut my finger.
I have finished my work.
I have lived in Dire dawa for ten years. (Implying that he is still living in Dire)
4. To denote an action beginning at sometime in the past and continuing up to the present
movement.
I have known him for a long time.
We have lived here for 10 years.
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Also used with since and for. ‘Since’ means from that point, to the time of speaking. While
‘for’ is used for a period of time.
He has been ill since last week.
I have lived here for two years.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used:
1 For an unfinished action
We have been building the house
I have been working for ten years.
2. For drawing conclusions
Her eyes are red, she has been crying.
The room stinks. Someone has been frying fish here.
Past Tense:
Simple Past Tense is used in the past:
1. To indicate an action completed, often occurring with an adverb of time.
I read the letter yesterday
Or Without an adverb of time. The time being implied
I didn’t sleep well.
Who left the door open?
2. For past habits or repeated actions.
He always carried a bag.
He took a long walk every morning.
Past Continuous Tense is used:-
1. To denote an action going on, sometime in the past
He was listening to the radio all day.
She was weeping bitterly
2. With an adverb ‘all’ emphasizing continuity or with ‘still’ emphasizing duration
It was raining all night.
It was still raining when I woke up
3. For persistent habits in the past used with always, continually
He was always grumbling
4. Used in making polite enquiries
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I was wondering if you could help me.

Past Perfect Tense is used:-
1. To describe an action completed in the past.
Mahatma Gandhi had died on 30 Jan 1948.
2. However if two actions happened in the past it may be necessary to show which happened
earlier. The simple past is used in one clause and the past perfect in the other.
The patient had died when the doctor arrived. (The patient was already dead when the doctor
arrived)
I had written the letter before he arrived.
3. With verbs like expect, hope, suppose, thinks, wants etc. to show unfulfilled hopes and wishes.
I had thought to send him a letter but could not send it.
Past Perfect Continuous is used:
1. For an action that began before a certain time in the past and continued up to that time as
At that time, he had been editing the newspaper for two years.
The children had been practicing for two hours till I called them out.
2. Can be used for drawing conclusions.
Her eyes were red it was obvious that she had been crying all day.
Future Tense:
Simple Future Tense is used:-
1 To express future time:-
I will see him tomorrow.
I shall see him tomorrow.
I am going to see him tomorrow.
2. By using ‘going to’ and ‘be about to’ to describe the speaker’s intention to do something in
fairly immediate future.
I am going to think about it.
He is going to be a Doctor when he grows up.
Future Continuous Tense is used:
1. To represent an action as going on at some time in the future as
The guests will be arriving anytime from now.
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2. For future events that are planned

He will be meeting us next month.
I shall be seeing the President tonight.
3. In the interrogative form, this tense is used to ask a polite question.
Will you be doing it in our absence?
Future Perfect Tense:
Future Perfect Tense is used to indicate the completion of an action in a certain time in the future.
I will have returned by the year 2010.
Before you come, he will have slept.
Future Perfect Continuous
This Tense is used to indicate an action that is in progress over a period of time and will end in
the future as
By next June, we shall have been living here for four years.
By the coming year, we shall have been
                          Present Simple                  Future Simple
                 Past Simple Tense 
Tense              Tense               
 
  Subject + 1st form of the verb
  (singular ) Third person singular    Subject +  2nd form of the   Subject + will + 1st form of
  add ‘s’ to the verb verb  the verb 
  Subject + 1st form of the verb )
 
 
 Affirmative:
 Affirmative:  Affirmative:
 We will eat, they will eat,
 I eat, we eat, they eat, he eats,   we ate, they ate, he ate
John will eat 
 John eats,
 
 
 Negative:  Negative:
 Negative:
 I do not eat, he does not eat, they  we did not eat, they did not
 I will not eat, he will not eat
do not eat  eat 
   
 Question:
 Questions:  Questions:
 Do we eat?  Do they eat?  Does
 Did he eat?  Did they eat?  Will they eat?  Will he eat?
he eat?
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  Tenses                      2. Negative    3. Interrogative 
   1. Affirmative          
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 Present Simple   They have a car.   They don't have a car.  Do they have a car?     
          
 
 Present Continuous   He's reading now.   He isn't reading now.  Is he reading now?         
        
 They didn't see a  
 Past Simple  They saw a movie. 
movie.   Did they see a movie?        
 
 Past Continuous  It was snowing.  It wasn't snowing.  Was it snowing?
 
 We haven't been  
 Present Perfect  We have been there. 
there.   Have we been there?          
 
 Present Perfect  You've been working  You haven't been
 Have you been working
Continuous  hard.  working hard. 
hard?  
 
 They had left for  They hadn't left for
 Past Perfect  Had they left for France?
France. France.
 
 
 Past Perfect  She had been waiting  She hadn't been
 Had she been waiting for
Continuous for him.  waiting for him. 
him?               
 It will snow this  It won't snow this
 Future Simple
winter. winter.   Will it snow this winter?
 
 She won't be
 Future Continuous  She will be travelling.  Will she be travelling?
travelling.
 
 
 He won't have
 Future Perfect  He will have arrived.  Will he have arrived?
arrived.
 
 Future Perfect  You will have been  You won't have been
 Will you have been
Continuous working. working.
working?
 
 Conditional  I would fly there.  I wouldn't fly there.
 Would you fly there?
 She's going to get  She isn't going to get  
 Future be going to  
married. married. Is she going to get married?

I. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate tense form.

1. When I opened my eyes, I _______________ a strange sight.
A. saw B. was seeing C. have seen D. all
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2. Every morning, she _______________ up early and gets ready for work.
A. is waking B. wakes C. has woken D. none
3. If I knew what he wanted, I _______________ this.
A. will not permit B. would not permit C. would not have permitted D. any
4. I _________ anything from her in a long time.
A. didn't hear B. haven't heard C. am not hearing D. all
5. The headmaster _______________ to talk to you.
A. want B. wants C. is wanting D. none
6. Jane ___________ with her parents.
A. is living B. lives C. has lived D. all
7. We ________________ Greece next month.
A. visit B. will visit C. would visit D. are visiting
8. The moon ________________ around the earth.
A. is revolving B. has revolved C. revolves D. all
9. She ______________ a novel.
A. wrote B. writes C. has written
10. All students ____________ in their work.
A. handed B. have handed C. hand
11. I ______________ English for twelve years.
A. am teaching B. have been teaching C. will be teaching
12. The students _______________ their dialogues.
A. rehearse B. are rehearsing C. either could be used here
II. Choose the correct answer from the given options.
1. Look! We _____________ to crash.
A. go B. are going C. were going D. have gone
2. I wish I __________ a better memory.
A. have B. had C. had had

3. After he __________ his homework, he went out to play.

A. completed B. had completed C. either could be used here
4. I ____________ him for very long when we got married.
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A. knew B. have known C. had known D. had been knowing

5. I ________ a lot of movies recently.
A. am watching B. have been watching C. was watching
6. I ____________ her for two weeks.
A. only knew B. have only known C. have only been knowing
7. When I woke up, Mummy __________ breakfast.
A. already prepared B. had already prepared C. have already prepared D. was already preparing
8. I _________ in the same job for ten years.
A. have worked B. have been working C. either could be used here
9. I told him that I _____________.
A. finished B. have finished C. had finished
10. I thought I ______________ the money a week before.
A. have sent B. had sent C. sent
11. I was tired because I _________________ for a long time.
A. was working B. have been working C. had been working
12. We ____________ by tomorrow afternoon.
A. will finish B. will have finished C. would finish
Fill the gaps with the correct tenses.
1. I (learn) _____________ English for seven years now. But last year I (not /
work) ____________ hard enough for English, that's why my marks (not /
be) _______________ really that good then.
2. As I (pass / want) _____________ my English exam successfully next year,
I (study) ____________ harder this term.
3. During my last summer holidays, my parents (send) _____________ me on a language
course to London.
4. It (be) ________ great and I (think) __________ I (learn) ___________ a lot.
5. Before I (go) ____________ to London, I (not / enjoy) _________ learning English.
6. But while I (do) _________ the language course, I (meet) __________ lots of young people
from all over the world.
7. There I (notice) _________how important it (be) ________to speak foreign languages
nowadays.
8. Now I (have) __________ much more fun learning English than I (have) __________before
the course.
9. At the moment I (revise) ___________ English grammar.
10. And I (begin / already) _____________ to read the texts in my English textbooks again.
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11. I (think) _____________ I (do)___________ one unit every week.

12. My exam (be) ____________on 15 May, so there (not / be) ___________ any time to be lost.
13. If I (pass) ______________ my exams successfully, I (start) __________ an apprenticeship
in September.
14. And after my apprenticeship, maybe I (go) ________ back to London to work there for a while.
15. As you (see / can) ________, I (become) _____________ a real London fan already.
Fill the following blank spaces with an appropriate verb in the bracket.
1. He_____________ (usually/ spend) his holiday by the sea. 
2. It is 11 am. I ______________ (do) plenty of exercises this morning. 
3. Jane _______________ (send) the letters yesterday. 
4. While they _____________ (walk) through the park yesterday, they met their neighbors. 
5. I _____________ (hear) the news two hours ago. 
6. My father _____________ (already / offer) me a new laptop. 
7. Look! Jimmy ____________ (climb) over the wall. 
8. The boys are hot because they _____________ (play) football for 3 hours. 
9. Marry _____________ (study) English before she moved to London. 
10. By this time next year, we ________________ (leave) school. 
Grammar Exercises - Mixed Tenses Exercises.
Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple present or present progressive)
Look! Sara (go) _____ to the movies.
On her right hand, Sara (carry) _________ her handbag.
The handbag (be) _______very beautiful.
Sara usually (put) _____ on black shoes but now she (wear) _______ white trainers.
And look, she (take) __________an umbrella because it (rain) ___________.

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or past perfect)
When he (wake up) _______, his mother (already /prepare) __________breakfast
We (go) ________ to London because our friends (invite) __________ us
He (hear) ________ the news, (go) ______ to the telephone and (call) _____ a friend.
When she (start) _______ learning English she (already /learn) ___________ French.
Jane (already / type) __________ three pages when her computer (crash) _________.
By the time the doctor (arrive) __________ at the house the patient (die) _____ .
Before that day we (never / think) ___________ of traveling to Japan.
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I (know) ________ him a long time before I (meet) ________ his family.

They (not / know) __________ where to meet because nobody (tell) ______ them.
It (be) ________ cloudy for days before it (begin) _______ to rain.
Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or present perfect).
I (just / finish) _______ my homework.
Mary (already / write) _____________ five letters.
Tom (move) __________ to his home town in 1994.
My friend (be) _______ in Canada two years ago.
I (not / be) ________to Canada so far.
But I (already / travel) __________ to London a couple of times.
Last week, Mary and Paul (go) ______ to the cinema.
I can't take any pictures because I (not /buy) ___________a new film yet.
(They / spend) __________ their holidays in Paris last summer?
(You / ever / see) _____________ a whale?
Put the verbs into the correct tense (Simple Past or Past Progressive).
The receptionist (welcome) _________ the guests and (ask) ______them to fill in the form
The car (break) _________ down and we (have) _______ to walk home.
The boys (swim) _________while the girls (sunbath) _________.
My father (come) _______ in, (look) _______ and (tell) _______ me to tidy up my room.
While one group (prepare) _______dinner the others (collect) ________ wood for the campfire.
While the parents (have) ________breakfast the children (run) ________about.
Martha (turn) ________ off the light and (go) ____________to bed.
Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple future or future perfect)
Tomorrow I think I (start) ________ my new project.
I (finish) _____________ it by the end of this month.
The teacher (probably/assign) __________ a test to his students next Monday.
He (correct) ____________it by the end of next week.
My friend (certainly/get) ____________ a good mark.
By 9 o'clock, we (finish) ___________ our homework.
They (leave) _______________the classroom by the end of the hour.
I think I (start) ________ my trip tomorrow
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Sequence of Tenses
Choose the most appropriate answer.
1. I knew that she ___________ Madrid before, so I asked her to recommend a good hotel.
A. has visited B. has been visiting C. visited D. had visited
2. She promised to help me if I_____________ the answer myself. 
A. haven't found B. didn't find C. won't find D. wouldn't find.
3. He said that they ________________ each other for many years.
A. know B. have known C. knew D. had known
4. I saw that she ___________ to hold back her tears. 
A, tries  B. is trying C. has been trying D. was trying
5. He knew that she _______________ as her eyes were red. 
A. is crying B. has been crying C. was crying D. had been crying
6. I asked her whether she _______________ there with me, but she said no. 
A. goes B. is going   C. will go D. would go
7. She said that the robber ____________her when she was opening the door to her apartment.
A. attacked B. has attacked C. was attacking D. had attacked
8. I wanted to see her but I didn't know if she _____________ in town. 
A. is B. was C. were D. had been
9. He told me that he would visit them when he_________ from Spain. 
A. has returned B. returned C. will return   D. would return
10. My younger daughter learned in class yesterday that the Earth __________ around the Sun.
A. revolves B. is revolving C. revolved D. was revolving